SRI LANKAN ROBOTICS

CHALLENGE 2024
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
UNIVERSITY CATEGORY
 UNIVERSITY CATEGORY
Robotics is an ever-evolving field in electronics. With new
opportunities emerging in both local and international scales, it is of
utmost importance to train and nourish the young minds of Sri Lanka
in the field of robotics. The Electronic Club of the University of
Moratuwa, alongside the Department of Electronic and
Telecommunication Engineering, has launched the Sri Lankan
Robotics Challenge (SLRC) for ten consecutive times as the longest
and pioneering robotics competition in Sri Lanka. As the 11th iteration
of SLRC draws near, anticipate an exciting and fierce battle between
robots to seek the winner.

The University Category Competition, exclusively designed for

undergraduates, aims to serve as a catalyst for learning, interaction,
and the expression of profound passion for robotics. In addition to the
excitement of the competition, winners will have the opportunity to
receive amazing cash prizes and certificates.

In this forthcoming challenge, participants are challenged to

engineer robots capable of overcoming a series of intricate
obstacles. This competition not only scrutinizes technical expertise
but also provides a dynamic arena for innovation, embodying the
ever-evolving landscape of robotics in Sri Lanka. As the SLRC 2024
approaches, we extend an open invitation to all enthusiasts to
partake in this technological spectacle—a convergence of ideas and
a celebration of innovation.

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 "In the dance of destiny, every move counts.
One wrong step, and the universe crumbles."
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the Black Order's numbers
loomed large, but the valiant heroes managed to secure five elusive
Infinity Stones. The key to halting Thanos's rampage lay in the fabled
power of the Infinity Gauntlet.

Yet, the Mad Titan himself possessed the final stone, safeguarded
within the impenetrable confines of Titan. Two unbreakable doors,
each with a key located on different planets, protected this cosmic
treasure. Tony Stark (Iron Man), Earth's brilliant mind , sought a way
to retrieve the stone from Thanos and crafted an autonomous robot
for the perilous task.

Wounded in the Titan battle, Iron Man entrusted Hulk, Dr. Bruce
Banner, with activating the robot to claim the last stone. So the Hulk
went to the Stark Industries lab to find the robot but the enemies
were already there and the robot was already destroyed. However,
He discovered lab documents outlining the robot's construction.
Lacking expertise in robotics, he reached out to Earth's foremost
minds for assistance. Now, the fate of the entire universe hung in the
balance as these geniuses endeavored to reconstruct the crucial
robot.

The mission ahead was clear but treacherous. The robot needed to
navigate the treacherous land and correctly place the stone into the
Infinity Gauntlet. A single misstep could trigger a catastrophic
collision of stones, unleashing a black hole that spelled doom for the
heroes.

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 CONTENT

1. Task description 1

2. Arena Specification 16

3. Robot Specification 17

4. Team Composition and Eligibility 19

5. Rules and Regulations 20

6. Judging 23

7. Contact Details 24
 01 Task Description

Sri Lankan Robotics Challenge 2024 consists of 3 main planets as

shown in Figure 1.1.

1. Planet A - Mountains in Vormir

2. Planet B - Ruins in Sakaar
3. Planet C - Thanos’s home

The robot is only allowed to start at the starting position, labeled as

position 1 in Figure 1.2.

Size of the start square : 25 cm * 25 cm

First, the robot should move straight and detect the color on the
wall of the stone holder (Figure 1.2 - position 2). There can be only
two possible colors, Green or Blue . Then, it should move to Planet A.

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 Planet B

start

Planet C

Planet A

Figure 1.1 - Regions of the arena

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 8
1 - Start
2 - Stone Holder
3 - Color Junction
4 - Hidden Gems
9 5 - Vormirian Sentinel Key
10 6 - Vormirian Sentinel Chamber
7 - Middle White Box
12 8 - Trash yard

13 18
11 2 1
7
14 start
start

15
17
9 - Sakaarian Nexus Key
16 10 - Sakaarian Nexus Chamber
11 - The Infinity Gauntlet
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12 - Slot A [50 gems]
13 - Slot B [40 gems]
14 - Slot C [No value]
3
15 - Slot D [30 gems]
16 - Slot E [20 gems]
17 - Vormirian Sentinel Portal
18 - Sakaarian Nexus Portal
5

4 4

Figure 1.2 - Sample Layout of the arena

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 Planet A - Mountains in Vormir

The task in Planet A consists of the following sub tasks.

Hidden Gems in the Mountain

First, the robot should reach the junction consisting of 4 color
sections (Figure 1.2 - position 3) shown in Figure 1.3, by following
the white lines.
Radius of the circle in color junction: 6 cm

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 cm
6
90° 90°
90°

Figure 1.3 - Color junction

Then the robot should turn in the correct direction corresponding to
the wall color of the stone holder. (blue or green) (Figure 1.11).
After that, the robot should follow the line to reach a circle (Figure 1.2 -
position 4) with an object positioned in the center as in Figure 1.4.
Radius of a circle: 30 cm
Next, the robot should follow the circle and identify the object
positioned in the center of the circle.
A cuboid or a cylinder with a height of 15 cm (± 2 cm) will be positioned
at the center of the circle. (Figure 1.5)
Dimensions of the cuboid and cylinder can be different except the
height.
The diameter of cylinder or maximum length of one side of cuboid will
not exceed 7cm.
Color of the objects will be white.

Figure 1.4 - Two circles with objects

placed in the middle

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 Figure 1.5 - Objects and their respective heights

Calculation:

If the object is a cylinder, the robot will earn 10 gems and if the
object is a cuboid, the robot will earn 20 gems.

According to this, the robot should calculate total gems earned in

Planet A.

Indication Method:

For marking purposes, there must be an indication method for the

detected object in the Planet A. (use LEDs only)

Use following color LEDs,

If the detected object is a cuboid, a blue LED should light up.
If the detected object is a cylinder, a green LED should light up.

The LED should remain lit until all the tasks are completed.

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Vormirian Sentinel Key

Then the robot should return back to the color junction and move in
the direction of the red colored quarter of the circle. (Figure 1.3)
According to Figure 1.2, the movement should be directed towards
position 5 where there will be a box or boxes placed on the semi-
circle.
There are only three positions for box placement on the semicircle
as shown in Figure 1.6.
The size of white square will be 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm
There will be 1, 2 or 3 boxes, but only one metal box.
Size of all boxes: 5 cm x 5 cm x 5 cm
The robot has to detect and grab the metal box.
All the boxes are white in color including the metal box. (The metal
box may have a different white color from non-metal boxes)

Figure 1.6 - Semicircle and three positions

where the boxes will be located

one metal box and two one metal box and one only the metal box
non-metal boxes non-metal boxes

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After that, the robot should go to the position named as Vormirian
Sentinel Chamber. (Figure 1.2 - position 6)

There will be a box with a hole as depicted in Figure 1.8, on the

Vormirian Sentinel Chamber position. The box color on the
Vormirian Sentinel Chamber position is green.

The robot needs to insert the metal box into the hole of the box.
Size of the box: 8 cm x 8 cm x 8 cm
Size of the hole: 6 cm x 6 cm x 6 cm

After inserting the metal box, Vormirian Sentinel Portal (Figure 1.2 -
position 17), will open. (As per Figure 1.2, two portals will be located
between positions numbered as 2 and 7.)

Figure 1.7 - Vormirian Sentinel Figure 1.8 - Box on the Vormirian

position Sentinel position

The metal box should go at least 3cm inside the hole in order
to open the portal.

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Planet B - Ruins in Sakaar

After completing the sub tasks in Planet A, the robot should go to the
junction in Planet B by passing through the white square in the
middle of the Planet C (Figure 1.2 - position 7).

The task in Planet B consists of the following sub tasks.

Ruins with Gems

Next, the robot should enter to the Trash yard which is surrounded
by walls (Figure 1.2 - position 8) as shown in Figure 1.9. The robot is
allowed to move inside the Trash yard.
Height of the walls: 20 cm
Color of inner side of the walls: White

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There will be only one opening to enter and exit from the Trash
yard, but the position of that opening may not be same as in
the figure below. It may vary.

>35cm

>10cm

10cm

>30cm
Wall

Figure 1.9 - Trash Yard

There will be 1 or 2 cuboids (maximum 2) of the same or different

heights which are fixed on the floor in random positions inside
the Trash yard.
Minimum distance between the wall and a cuboid will be 10 cm.
All the cuboids are white in color.

Figure 1.10 - Cuboids with different heights that

can be found inside the Trash yard

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 The robot should measure the heights of all cuboids. The cuboids
should not be damaged when measuring the heights.
The heights of the cuboids can take any value from the following set
of 3 values: 10 cm, 15 cm, 20 cm as depicted in Figure 1.10.
After measuring the heights, the robot should record the maximum
height among them.

Calculation:
If the maximum height of the cuboids is,
10 cm - 10 gems
15 cm - 20 gems
20 cm - 30 gems

According to the cuboid configuration of the Trash yard, the robot

can calculate its total earned gems in Planet B.

Indication Method
For marking purposes, there must be an indication method for
detected maximum height in the Planet B. (use a separate LED for this
task, don’t use the same LED used in the task in Planet A)
Use following colors for gems earned in Planet B,
10 gems - red
20 gems - green
30 gems - blue
The LED should remain lit until all the tasks are completed.

Sakaarian Nexus Key

Next, the robot should exit the Trash yard and go to the junction in
planet B and then, the robot should turn to the direction of the
semicircle which is shown as position 9 in Figure 1.2.
Following the approach from the task in Planet A, the robot should
detect and grab the metal box.
After that, the metal box should correctly be inserted into the box
(similar in shape to Figure 1.8) on the Sakaarian Nexus Chamber
(Figure 1.2 - position 10).
The box color on the Sakaarian Nexus Chamber position is red. (Figure
1.2 - position 10)
Then, the Sakaarian Nexus Portal (Figure 1.2 - position 18) will open.

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Planet C - Thanos's home
After completing the task in Planet B, the robot should go to the
white square in the middle. (Figure 1.2 - position 7).

The task in Planet C consists of the following sub tasks.

Figure - middle box

The Final Stone

After coming to the middle box, the robot should turn to the direction
of the stone holder.
Since both portals are open now, the robot can move closer to the
stone holder.
A stone will be placed on the stone holder surface, as depicted in
Figure 1.11 (cross-section of the stone holder).
Next, the robot should grab the stone. The dimensions of the stone are
mentioned below. (similar to a table tennis ball)
Radius: 2 cm ± 0.5cm
Weight: 3 g ± 1g
The stone holder will be placed on a 20 cm x 20 cm white square.
After that the robot should return to the white square in the middle.
(Figure 1.2 - position 7).

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Figure 1.11 - Cross section of Stone holder
(dimensions in mm)

Figure - side view of stone holder

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Two Portals

The portals will be open after inserting the respective metal boxes.
Two portals must be opened before going to the stone holder.
The robot should not damage the portals.
After inserting the metal box of Planet A, Vormirian Sentinel Portal
(Figure 1.2 - position 17),will open. (Gate numbered as A in above figure )
After inserting the metal box of Planet B , Vormirian Sentinel Portal
(Figure 1.2 - position 18),will open.(Gate numbered as B in above figure )

The Infinity Gauntlet

Next the robot should go to the shooting position. (Figure 1.2 -

position 11)
There will be five target positions numbered as 20, 30, NO value, 40,
50 (Figure 1.2 - positions 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 respectively) in front of
the shooting position. (Figure 1.12)
Angle between two target positions: 30 degrees
Distance between one target position and the shooting
position: 50cm ± 5cm
Radius of the shooting position: 10 cm

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 No Value
30
40

6 cm

20
50
50cm

30 deg 30 deg

30 deg 30 deg

20cm

Figure 1.12 - Shooting pot and shooting positions

The robot has to shoot the stone retrieved from the stone holder to
one of the five target positions along the floor.
The robot should not leave the shooting position before or while
shooting the stone.
There will be five boxes with a hole at these five designated target
positions.
Size of hole: 6 cm
depth and height: 8 cm
To determine the correct target position, the robot should use the
previously obtained gems from the tasks in Planet A & B.

Target Position Value = Total gems earned in

Planet A + Total gems earned in
Planet B

The sum of gems will correspond to the number assigned to the

correct target position where the stone should be shot.

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 02 Arena Specifications

The arena consists of four 8 ft x 4 ft (240 cm x 120 cm) boards such

that the final arena size is 16 ft x 8 ft (480 cm x 240 cm).
The surface can be slightly uneven at the places where two boards
are connected.
The arena will be black, and the lines will be white.
The width of all the line following lines will be 3 cm.
The minimum length of any straight-line segment will be 25 cm.
The surfaces of the lines and the walls will be matte-finished. The
type of sticker used will be "buffel" stickers.

Task Description

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 03 Robot Specifications

Dimensions of the robot should not exceed 25 cm x 25 cm (width x

length). It will be tested before the start of the first round by placing

the robot inside a 25 cm x 25 cm box.

The robot should be completely autonomous. Any remote control

would lead to disqualification of the robot.

The robot should be powered with an internal power supply with a

supply voltage not exceeding 24V. The final unit, including the

power source, should be within the dimensions specified above.

The robot must be built entirely by the team members. Therefore,

no off the-shelf Lego kits or assemblies are allowed except for the

ready-made processing boards, sensor modules, drive gears, and

other electronic modules.

The robot should not cause any damage to the platform (arena).

Any damage to the arena leads to disqualification. If the judges feel

that a robot has a high risk of damaging the arena, they can deny

the attempt.

A team can use any preferred method for wall object detection;

however, the robot must not exert a force on the object, likely to

cause damage. For example, the robot must not scratch, damage

or destroy the objects in the arena.

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The robot should be activated using a single start switch placed on

the robot itself. Therefore, the robot should have a simple starting

procedure.

The starting procedure of the robot should not involve giving the

robot any manual force or impulse in any direction.

The robot should be able to operate under provided lighting

conditions. The robot cannot transform into two robots during

gameplay.

There should be a way to indicate that the robot has completed its

task. This will be considered to measure the time.

The minimum distance between the middle of the lines and the

edges of the arena will be 15 cm. The robot should be designed

such that it won’t fall out of the arena. The robot should not leave

any components behind in the rest of the arena.

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04 Team Composition and Eligibility

A team can have a maximum of 5 members and a minimum of 1

member.
Undergraduates from different state or private universities can
form a team, but the team should register under one university
name.
Each team member should be under 28 years of age to be eligible
to compete, and one undergraduate can only represent one team.
All team members should be registered or selected to register as
undergraduates of any state or private university in Sri Lanka at the
time of their participation in the competition.
All the team members should have a valid document to prove their
eligibility to participate in the competition.
Multiple teams could compete, representing the same university,
but one team can only submit one robot.
Violation of the above conditions would lead to disqualification.

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 05 Rules and Regulations

General

There won’t be any arena changes once the round has started. All
teams will have the same arena.
All the teams must submit their robots to the organizers 15 minutes
before the start of the first round. After that, the robot will be given
to the relevant team only for its attempts at the round.
The contestants must be prepared to start within 5 minutes after
the call; if not, the attempt is lost.
A team should place the robot entirely inside the starting square at
the start of their run. When the judges give the signal, the robot can
be switched on. From then on, the robot should navigate
autonomously. The contestants should not manually alter the
orientation of the robot during the gameplay. In addition, the
contestants should not communicate with or control the robot
during an attempt.
A maximum of 3 attempts are given in a single round, and the
overall time (the total time of all attempts taken) will be counted.
A maximum time of 15 minutes (period of gameplay) is allocated
per team. Therefore, all the attempts are reserved for this period
only. If the robot exceeds the time limit of 15 minutes, your robot will
be removed from the arena.

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Program or hardware modifications of the robot are not allowed
within this 15 minute.
The time taken to travel from the start square to the shooting
position and finish shooting the stone is called the total run time.
The clock will start when the judges give the signal to start. Then,
the clock will stop when the shooting stone has landed.
The clock will not be paused during attempts.
If the robot drifts out of the line to the extent that no part is on top
of the line in line following segments, the judges will consider it as
jumping out of line. However, if the robot finds its way back to the
line on itself, it can continue, provided that the distance skipped by
the robot along the line is less than 30 cm. The judges may deduct
points in this case. If the robot does not find its way back to the line
within a skipped distance of 30 cm, that would be considered the
end of that attempt, and you will be allowed to remove the robot
from the arena.

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Calibration

Two additional minutes before the gameplay period of 15 minutes

is given for the calibration of the robot.
The robot can only use the arena from the starting square until the
end of line segment 1 for calibration.
Calibrations can only be done through external adjustments of the
robot. Therefore, program changes nor hardware part
replacements are not allowed.
The team can request the start of their first attempt before the
calibration period ends. The gameplay period of 15 minutes will
start at that moment. (The remaining calibration time will not be
added to the 15 minutes given for three attempts).
If a team fails to finish calibrating within these 2 minutes, the extra
time taken will be deducted from the period of gameplay of 15
minutes.

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 06 Judging

Each team member may be questioned about their robot; every

member should clearly understand and be able to explain the
robot's working principles and mechanisms. There would be an
immediate disqualification of defaulters of any kind.
The robot's code will be checked for hard coding upon judges'
request.
No timing bonus will be given unless the robot completes the task.
If the robot is not performing well, the judges may ask to stop the
current attempt. However, the team will still be given all three
attempts. If this happens in all three attempts, the total run time of
15 minutes may not be allowed.
The decision of the panel of judges will be the final decision.

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 07 CONTACT INFORMATION

Kaveeshwara Gayanath
+94 76 385 5739

Hashika Chathubhashaka
+94 76 332 4119

Special Note

Please don't assume anything about the task or the arena if it is

not specified in this document. Contact us if you need any

clarification.

This is version 1 of the task document. Please be updated on

the WhatsApp group and the SLRC website for further

updates.

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